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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Here are some video updates I've finally got together from our last trip to Mission Texas with Psalm 67 Missions Network. Check them out and see what the people who went have to say.

Sarah's Update from Mission Texas. Sarah went on the January trip as well so she had a head start with all the kids this time around, though Blake and his mad "swinging around in circles" skill has won him just as many little friends.

Here's Craig with the Kopp report. Craig is from First Baptist church Desoto and it was awesome to have him on the trip. He helped recreation, playing with kids nonstop, and with keeping things cool. Oh! and in case you didn't know this trip held a lot of "firsts" for Craig. You'll have to look at pictures and ask him yourself what he thought of all the new lands he discovered, and just how salty that "Big blue wet thing" was.

In the background are small teams handing out fliers for the VBS. Each team has a one of the kids with them to help with translation.

Christian was very thankful and excited to be able to go on this trip. He was very useful in coming up with games and activities. In fact some of the games we had used on the trip before in January we got from him. Christian also has some crazy tactical strategy skills that can catch anything from Jack rabbits to who knows what using only a dedicated team of followers and whatever he can find around him (again you will have to ask him or one of the team to explain, or get someone with writing skills like Sarah to write it up. It was more than I could capture with a camera. That's for sure!)

And last but not least (or maybe on this post it is) Reeeed Mango!!!

If you have heard any of the team talking about the trip you may have heard of Red Mango. So whether you are entirely curious about what is so special about Red Mango or you really don't care at all, here is a video that doesn't do much explaining about it.

Hopefully if you were thinking about going to Texas with Psalm 67 this video doesn't totally make you think that we are a bunch of crazy weirdos. You're supposed to have to come with us to Texas to find that out.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Since it is taking me so long to get around to telling everyone anything. I am going to go ahead and just post the links to Sarah's blog post with a few pictures. So yeah this post feels pretty lame BUT that's OK! because her posts are awesome! So go read them and learn some of what happened on this last trip and how to be praying.

I will hopefully be able to post some of my own thoughts and updates (maybe videos) before to to long.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

(small tag note by Billy) - As you can see a full day of work in Mission Texas can leave you somewhat crazy and as if only half your mind is left (having drained the rest on crazy, lovable kids) on top of this Craig Kopp is quite crazy anyway.

Today was an exciting day. And Blake's face got messed up from a little girl. And Gennie doesn't like peppers because they're too peppery. And the girls went to Palmhurst. The girls went on a three-hour tour. And Christian stepped on a rusty nail. hahahaha. Craig is strange. What? Strange? What? Strange? What? You really repeat what I say? You're not doing it right. I said... You're slow at typing. Oh yeah? This smells like candles in here. Period. Send. Blakeyboy. -That is a crazy...- Gennie... Gennie smells... like a beautiful flower. Beautiful flowers? That's not right! You are a horrible newspaper person. I'm going to bed. [exit]

Craig - "That? That is Mexico!" "Yep"

"That? That there is the Ocean"

"Them?" "Them's Seagulls" "I've been teaching them to get in line if they want part of my taco"

As you can see though this trip contained many firsts for Craig he now has much expertise in many subjects of travel. Here are some more Craig Kopp pictures.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Early this morning I stumbled out the door to attempt to jog with my adventurous and athletic friends. For me, that is entirely out of the ordinary and rather insane, but I went. I kind of wanted to see how far I could make it, and we were going to a coffee shop. Who could say no to that?

Almost immediately the boys pulled ahead while the girls' pace fluctuated dramatically. Gentleman that he is, Billy stayed behind with us, but we knew that he wanted to run ahead and beat everyone there. None of us wanted to hold him back, and we knew where we were going, so after a little while we convinced him that it would be okay if he sped up. Besides, the rest of the group wasn't too far ahead.

Due to a lack in communication, however, our morning took an interesting turn - literally. To beat the rest of the group to Jitters, Billy took a short-cut. Without thinking we followed him on to Bryan Road and soon lost him in the darkness of pre-dawn.

For a while things went well, but our destination seemed much further away that any of us remembered. We were going rather slow, though, so it didn't seem too strange. We just walked and joked about what we would do if a drug cartel tried to kidnap us. And walked. And walked. And jogged a little. And then walked some more.

After a while we got a phone call from the guys, wondering where we were...

... (Billy) I had run ahead to Jitters, gotten there ahead of the others guys (it wasn't a short cut by the way it was a long cut), and decided to run back and meet them as they came. I also wanted to check on the girls to make sure they were coming along just fine. The first person I met on my way back was Blake. I asked him if he knew how far behind the girls were. He told me he had seen the girls turn down the street I had turned onto. So him and me took off taking different streets to see if we could find them. I was pretty sure the girls wouldn't be able to easily find their way through the subdivisions I had run through to get ahead of the guys.

Well after we ran all the way back through the subdivisions we decided to run back to Jitters. If they weren't there we run back to the house to get the van. After getting 3/4 of the way back to Jitters Blake decided to give Kim's phone a call even though he didn't think she had brought it. When she answered we thought with relief that surely, wherever little subdivision road they were lost on. we would find them now...

(Sarah) Certain that we would run into them at any minute, we kept them on the phone and continued our journey, which quickly led us to a place where trees shrouded the road in lampless darkness. I thought briefly that if we were ever going to be in danger, it would be there. But I also wasn't worried. Sure, I prayed extra for safety, but the guys had already come that way, right? And they would never lead us through danger.

While I was thinking such thoughts, two things happened. One, it occurred to Gennie that maybe Billy had taken a different route, and two, a black minivan slowed down almost to a stop behind us, and then drove away. Creepy, but safe. We attribute our not being kidnapped to the grace of God, and the fact that Gennie was clearly talking on a cell phone.

As we continued to walk and talk, and the sky began to lighten, it seemed more and more that we were headed further and further out of town. But ahead we could see another stoplight, so we pressed on in hope that it was the last. Before we reached it, however, we came to a sign that read: "Entering City of Palmhurst". Until today, I'd never actually been inside of Jitters, but I did know for a fact that it was in the city of Mission. Left without a doubt, we turned around and headed back...

... Blake and I after a lot more talking on the phone found out they were still on Bryan road. The same road they had turned onto way back at the beginning. They had never turned into the subdivisions at all but had just kept on going, and going, and going! So I handed they phone back to Blake and took off down road 495 (we had just come up Mayberry) till I got to Bryan. After affirming the direction of Mile 2 road from a guy on a motorcycle there at the stop light, I started running north Bryan road...

... At long last we were reunited with Billy and Blake, and like long-lost sheep they shepherded us back to the coffee shop, which was far, far away from where we'd been! It was so nice to finally reach our destination. Best of all, due to a mix up in orders, I ended up with a free iced latte.

In the end, I thought it was a fantastic adventure. Aside from the blisters, it was very fun, and having such a story to tell is definitely worth it all. I think I may be the only one who feels that way, though.

Love and Peace,
Sarah

(Billy Jackson)
Yes I think Sarah is the only one that feels that way. We are definitely NOT having another one of these adventures. I did some measuring on the map. According to Google maps the Girls got about 3 miles down the road and Blake and I did over 10 miles of running getting to Jitters, realizing the girls were lost, finding them, and then finally getting them to Jitters and back home.

On the map B is where the church is, A is Jitters, C is where the girls turned off, and D is where they went to. Me and Blake got to them a few minutes after they finally turned around.

We arrived at our destination on Friday at 4:00 evening. The first day we mostly slept and ate , but we did get some things done:

Me and Blake climbed up into the attic to try and mount a projector

We met Hermano Hugo and Hermano Solis who were both Christians and helped us with our work projects and other chores around the church. We became quick friends with all of them.

Aaron tricked me into eating a chile toreados. I had to drink four glasses of Horchata to cool down.

Saturday was the day we went to the surrounding neighborhoods in the village to hand out fliers and ask people to come to VBS. We took two-Spanish-speakers with us brother and sister Enrique(12) and Leslie(8) who were a huge help as translators for us. The majority of the kids we talked to lived in trailer parks and impoverished conditions. One common thread in these families is that they lack a father figure in the home. As we begin this VBS program I pray that we will be able to show them their true Father.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The music video that I shot before the Christian Life Conference in Wisconsin and have been working on since, as I've had time to. I wanted to get it done before leaving for Texas so here it is.

Please enjoy!

Anthony Gillingham is obviously a very talented piano player and big thanks to him for doing this with us. He had to play this whole song through multiple times while we recorded audio and video. Thanks to Andrew for getting the sound recorded so nicely and thank you to Andrew and Amber for helping cover all the angles with the cameras getting all the footage we needed.

photo by Andrew Gillingham

After getting back from Texas I will be tackling the job of editing the rest of the conference video. It is going to be a lot more than I've ever tackled before but I think it will be very good for me. Just pray that I can meet it head on and get through it with out bogging down. Also pray that I will do a good job. These messages have very good truth in them, and the messages for Norm Wakefield will be used through his Elijah Ministries. There are a few other things like interviews and stuff to do as well.

NOW! All that behind us for a week or two. I leave for Texas in two days! Thursday the 8th. I am ready for this trip to begin! My friends Blake and Christian from WI will be coming on the team this time and besides them we have three more people added to the number that went last time. SO we are ready to take on more of those Flying Chanclas! (we THINK! lol we were SO not ready last time!)

It was such a blessing last time in many ways that I was not looking for. So I'm looking for more unlooked for blessings this time.

Besides this, on this trip I will be meeting with the Rio Grande Bible institute to discuss the videographer position open at the school and whether it is for me. I will be talking to two people in charge of video production for the school (promotional material and lecture video) as well as the Vice President.

Please pray that I will be able to gather all the information I need to make a good decision. And pray that if it would be good for me to work there at the school they will think well of my skills and experience level. AND thank if they want me to work there I will be able to get free language tuition which would be my reason for going in the first place.

Pray for us throughout the weeks we are gone 8th-19th that we will have Christ like servant attitudes, that we will seize opportunity to share the gospel, and that we will have awesome christian fellowship among the team (with no strife).

Pray for the congregation of the church. There is not established leadership and the congregation is growing. Where there are people there are always problems and when there is no established leadership these problem can grow and cause much strife. Pray along these lines that God's grace and love would triumph or selfishness and pride.